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I'm a writer, living in Bristol in the UK. I've had a handful of short stories published but I'm still working on that Holy Grail for fiction writers- securing a literary agent. So, if you're an agent or have an Auntie, Uncle, second cousin, best friend who is one...

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Exploring fictional worlds in a flash

Three Line Tales : Was she dreaming?

The story so far: Sixteen-year-old Edie falls asleep in her bed clutching a Tudor sixpence. She wakes to find herself in 1588, surrounded by soldiers preparing for war. But what do you do, when you’re stuck in the past and alone?

Edie looked up. The sky was black — not bleached with the usual streetlight — and slashed by a cloud of milky grey. Staring deeper into the haze, she saw stars, at first a few dozen, then hundreds, thousands, clustered in blobs or drawn out in long strings. She’d never seen so many. Suddenly, the sky felt too full, the sight so unnerving she had to look away.

Was she dreaming?

The panic that had threatened earlier gripped her, flinging thoughts together until her stomach flipped and her head spun. She bent over, hands clutching shaking knees.

The above is a brief, abridged extract from my YA novel, Shadowmaker.

When I saw Sonya at Only 100 Word’s lovely photo prompt for today’s TLT, I thought of Edie, alone and scared and about to have the worst night of her life. Her life so far, of course. The future holds murder, treason, execution, betrayal – this is merely a taster.

Okay, Edie’s surrounded by Elizabethan tents, not teepees, but she’s facing that same, huge sky – intimidating for a girl used to the bleached orange of a city night.

I’m polishing the MS for submissions as we speak, so wish me luck. And the best of luck to all those of you going through the same process.

Aw, thanks Joy 🙂 Been polishing, buffing, buffing, buffing. A couple more read throughs and off I’ll send it on Monday. At least we only have to wait two weeks to be put out of our agony with this one 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement.

We (I anyway) want people to read and buy! It’s not like passing the plate around at church, I’d like to see people pick up one of my books and not notice that there’s a price tag on it. I don’t want them to say, ‘never heard of her, she can only be worth a freebie or at very most a 99p special offer.’

Yes, of course, you’re absolutely right, Jane. The problem is perceived value , isn’t it? Anyone aspiring to a creative career is expected to give away content for free to lure people in – society has become used to that idea. I blame big companies for this, for cheapening products and services so they remain competitive – fine for them as they rely on large turnovers to make a profit. No brilliant for the rest of us trying to sell our creativity. Have you had similar issues with your own books, Jane?

I have done a few free promotions on my first book, hoping that it would lead to sales of the sequels in the series. That has never happened. I think that many people download freebies like grabbing cake and free wine at a buffet. Except unlike the freeloaders of edibles, the books often don’t even get read. Of those who do read and the even smaller percentage who enjoyed, many assume that the second book will be offered for free if they wait long enough. I’m going to have to rethink my approach to advertising if I want to sell any books, and to be honest, the idea fills me with dread. Maybe I’ll do something about it, but not in the immediate future.

It’s a tough job, promotion and something I’m sure many writers don’t want to do. We want to write – that’s why we do it in the first place. We do not want to spend half our week on social media or developing sales strategies. It must take so much energy. I hear of authors who are terrific at self promotion and then read they were in marketing or business before writing. Not my strong point, I must say.
Good luck with you marketing strategies, Jane and I hope they bear fruit for you 🙂

Ah, thank you so much! How lovely. 🙂 I’m sure it will come to nought (I’ve only submitted to 4 agents so far and a friend told me the average for a debut author is 80 +) but we can but try. Thanks for your good wishes and for reading

Gosh, that’s so true, especially when it comes to publishing! Though I tend to overthink at times (whether to submit at certain places, feeling sure it’ll come to nothing) but maybe I should just go for it! 🙂

Well, in truth I over think things too. I have a go at myself when I get yet another rejection, lose faith in a story when I find it hard to place. But it is terrifically competitive out there and all you can do is keep trying. I have a writer friend who’s just placed a piece in a very good magazine after a handful of years trying – it can be done. All you need is to find one person to love your work and you could be on to a winner. Good luck and do go for it 🙂

Aw, thank you Maureen. All we can do is try, can’t we? A fellow blogger told me it takes and average of 80 – 100 attempts for a dbut author to find an agent. Could be a long time crossing those fingers 🙂 Thanks for reading

80-100 rejections? Would you Adam and Eve it! Lord love a duck! I’ll go to the bottom of t’stairs!
Ee by gum!
That’s a great little taster you’ve got there. I’ve sent a big fat pink cloud floating across the sky, carrying the legend ‘Lynn gets an agent.’ That should do it 🙂
Yup – I’ve walked barefoot and bra-less around Glastonbury town picking up useful tidbits in my time. 🙂

Well, that piece of info was from an American blogger, so maybe that’s averages from there not here. Not sure the UK has that many agents to work through.
Are you submitting today? Just sent mine off, after spending hours going cross-eyed looking for typos and clunky prose. Still felt not-quite-good-enough though. Ah, well.
Thanks for the fat pink cloud and the image of you barefoot and bra-less in Glastonbury, though I’m guessing you fit right in dressed like that. Love going bra-less, though it feels unseemly in a middle aged lady. 🙂

I haven’t gone bare foot and bra-less since I was twenty-three and pregnant – that’s when it went awry 🙂
I’m not submitting anything. I’ve done a bit of soul-searching, and I wrote a long, boring post about it yesterday. I’ve decided to erase all thoughts of getting published until I know what I’m really trying to achieve.

Is that the cut-off age do you think? I remember being barefoot and bra-less at 23. Though I had to wait another 10 years to be pregnant 🙂
Just left a comment on your post about the sub. Sorry if my suggestion caused you any grief. Yes, you should absolutely decide what’s best for you before taking that step. Keep writing – that’s the most important thing 🙂

Stop bleedin’ apologising 🙂 Your action has made me happier than I’ve been in a long time – I’ve just explained that in response to your first apology. I think you could do with a silly amount of smiley faces 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂